This invention relates to pedal boards for musical instruments, and particularly to mounting, guide, and switching mechanisms for pedal boards in pipe or electronic organs.
Organs usually include, in addition to the keyboard, a pedal board comprising a plurality of pedals to be actuated by the musician's feet for producing additional notes. The usual pedal board has a spring attached to each pedal key. The purpose of this spring is to return the pedal key to the normal position after being depressed. Also, the spring adds a predetermined amount of resistance to the pedal movement. The typical springs are made of metal and may be coil, leaf or compass type. The pedal key is attached to a pivot point at one end and restricted by a guide comb at the other end. The return spring may be attached at any point from the pivot end to the free end. Each pedal key activates a switch or set of switches inside or outside the pedal board. These switches may control air pressure, vacuum or electrical current.
There are problems with the known mechanical and switching arrangements of pedals in pedal boards for organs. Ordinarily, the pedal spring tension for each pedal has to be individually adjusted when the pedal boards are assembled. The comb guide for the pedal keys is relatively difficult to fabricate. Because the spring does not tend to prevent lateral movement of the pedal key very well, the sides of the pedal key frequently strike the interior sides of the slot in the comb guide, resulting in unwanted noise.
Alignment of the various pedals and their respective switches is often a difficult problem. In addition, deterioration of the parts in such a pedal board occurs more rapidly than is desirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a pedal board which can be more readily assembled, that reduces the number of parts, that reduces noise, that is easier to assemble, and that has a longer useful life than prior art pedal boards.